Joyce M. Tudryn
President, International Radio and Television Society Foundation

Joyce M. Tudryn will celebrate her 20th Anniversary at the International Radio and Television Society Foundation in 2003. The IRTS Foundation is a non-profit media educational organization, designed to assure that the skills and ideals of today's professionals are passed to future generations of media leaders. The organization's goal is to bring together the wisdom of yesterday's founders, the power of today's leaders, and the promise of tomorrow's young professionals.

Upon becoming President of IRTS in 1994, Tudryn repositioned the Foundation with the unanimous approval of the organization's membership and Board of Directors. As a result, program offerings and funding doubled in the first year of coordination.

IRTS currently stages approximately 45 programs a year to keep college students, faculty, and industry professionals updated on the increasingly complex world of media and entertainment. Tudryn has directed events ranging from star-studded industry galas to conferences, featuring corporate leaders, government officials, electronic journalists and program producers.

Throughout her tenure at IRTS, Tudryn has produced the annual five-day IRTS Faculty/Industry Seminar, where professors from across the nation come to New York for five days of intense meetings with key industry executives. The event concludes with a case study competition that is later released online for use by universities across the nation. Accommodations and conference expenses are underwritten by the IRTS fundraising efforts.

Proceedings from past Faculty/Industry Seminars read like chapters in an electronic media history book. For example: John Malone unveiled the concept of the 500-channel universe, Sumner Redstone spoke in the midst of Viacom's acquisition of Paramount, Senator Joseph Lieberman gave a speech the day the Telecommunications Act was signed into law, and Ted Turner-famed "Mouth of the South"-sat speechless as faculty analyzed his business style. Mayor Rudolph Guiliani recognized the contributions of the event in 1997 by personally presenting an "International Radio and Television Society Day" proclamation from the city of New York.

The IRTS Summer Fellowship Program earned its stripes as one of the nation's 10 best internships after Tudryn overhauled the program in the late eighties, to include an all-expense paid opportunity featuring a one-week orientation to the business, followed by eight weeks of experience in a customized position that complemented the student's career goals. Tudryn's successful development efforts increased the number of Fellows from 10 to 35. The program now boasts more than 550 graduates.

Devoted to increasing diversity within our business, Tudryn helped establish and produce an annual two-day IRTS Minority Career Workshop that is about to enter its 20th year. The program includes a one-day conference, followed by an opportunity to interview with major companies from throughout the business. Recruiters have labeled this workshop one of the best places to find outstanding job applicants. On average, twenty percent of those who attend the workshop are hired as a direct result of the event.

Whenever possible, Tudryn has extended a hand to other organizations that reflect the ideals of the IRTS mission. She forged a two-year partnership in 1999 with the National Broadcasting Society-Alpha Epsilon Rho, donating full-time administration by IRTS personnel, a fully-programmed membership database, and underwriting for convention travel grants to this 90-chapter student organization. Ms. Tudryn co-produced the 1999 and 2000 IRTS-NBS national conventions, and directed IRTS Day at the NBS Convention in 2001. She was responsible for the National Production Awards Competition in 2000. She was named NBS National Advisory Board Member of the Year in 2001.

Serving as Vice Chairman of Education for the iEmmy Festival produced by the International Council of NATAS, Tudryn was responsible for the administration of a grant that provided underwriting for professors from across the nation to attend this event for the first time.

Tudryn began her career as a member of the editorial staff in the Radio Department at the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC. She has been a trade magazine columnist, as well as a video producer for the public affairs department in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Today, Tudryn frequently gives lectures to students and has authored and/or edited articles in industry-related periodicals and books. The Broadcast Education Association has named Tudryn the 2003 recipient of its Distinguished Education Service Award. Tudryn is an Advisory Board Member of her alma mater-the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, where she was inducted into the Professional "Wall of Fame" Gallery in 2000. She is a member of New York's Media Roundtable and a former officer of the Corporation for Educational Radio and Television. She is listed in "Who's Who in America" and "Who's Who in the World".

As First Vice President of the PTA at her daughter's elementary school this past year, Tudryn staged a fall fair for fundraising, established and edited a school newspaper, and garnered regular publicity of activities in the local press. She resides in Union, New Jersey, where she was honored as a member of the town's Family of the Year in a proclamation presented by the mayor.

An accomplished photographer, Tudryn had a solo exhibition at the New York City gallery "Synchronicity Space" and has been a featured artist at events ranging from the Central New Jersey Railroad Festival to the Potlatch Annual Design Show. Once a month she joins Dominic "Uncle Junior" Chianese of HBO's Sopranos to entertain at a local nursing home; and she occasionally gets into full clown makeup (complete with magic tricks) to perform at charitable events.

Distinguished Education Service Award Recipients

For 48 years, the BEA, www.beaweb.org, has offered opportunities that bring professors and radio and television professionals together. BEA advances the interaction between professors, students and industry professionals who strive to produce employees with that unique combination of a liberal arts education and the practical skills desired in today's marketplace.

DESA Winners:
1982 Harold Niven, Broadcast Association Professional
1983 Sydney Head, Professor
1984 Vincent Wasilewski, Broadcaster
1985 Thomas Bolger, Broadcaster
1986 Ken Harwood, Professor
1987 Erwin Krasnow, Communications Attorney
1988 Bruce Linton, Professor
1989 Wally Dunlap and Clark Pollack, Broadcasters
1990 John Michael Kittross, Professor
1991 Stan McKenzie, Broadcaster
1992 Chris Sterling, Professor
1993 Rebecca Hayden, Publishing Professional
1994 Pat Cranston, Professor
1995 Stanley Donner, Professor
1996 Lewis Klein, Broadcaster
1997 Lynne Shafer Gross, Professor
1998 Lawrence Lichty, Professor
1999 Joe S. Foote, Professor
2000 Herbert Howard, Professor
2001 Peter Orlik, Professor
2002 Norman J. Pattiz, Broadcaster

The award will be presented at the BEA Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV, April 4-7, 2003.

Criteria for nomination and selection for award:
1. The person should have made a significant and lasting contribution to the American system of electronic media education by virtue of a singular achievement or continuing service for or in behalf of electronic media education.

2. Contributions may include contributions in research, pedagogy, curriculum development fundraising support, consulting service and participation in BEA and other media education and professional associations.